Jin's military discharge and fan event drove BTS’ brand reputation up by 177.09%

BTS' eldest member, Kim Seokjin aka Jin, returned on June 12, 2024, after completing 18 months of mandatory service in the Republic of Korea Army. The rest of the band members are currently on active duty in the military as per the nation's mandatory service law.

As per the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute, a big data study of the idol group's brand reputation was conducted in June 2024. The band's score increased by 177.09% due to Jin's military discharge, putting BTS at the top of the brand reputation index. Previously, BTS ranked second on the chart on June 1, 2024, after SEVENTEEN topped the list.

Due to their ongoing enlistment, the group slipped to 8th position for the first time in five years. In January 2024, soloist Lim Young-Woong topped the index list while SEVENTEEN came in second and NewJeans was placed third. However, despite its ongoing hiatus, BTS shot up to second place on June 1, and now again at the top.

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BTS Jin's arrival from the military caused an upheaval in the K-pop industry

For the unversed, the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute conducted research by assessing the consumer involvement index, media index, communication index, and community indices for idol group brands. This is done through brand category evaluation that incorporates boy groups and girl groups, Idol Group Brand Reputation examined the brand reputation index.

BTS scored a brand value of 6,669,376 after the participation index dropped to 246,176, the media index to 720,343, the communication index to 2,466,647, and the community index to 3,236,210. It is up 177.09% from May 2024 when the group scored 2,406,950 brand reputation index. This was due to Jin's immense global influence as the musician returned to the spotlight after 18 months.

Furthermore, the Epiphany singer-songwriter held a Weverse LIVE immediately after his discharge on June 12, which was watched by 4.5 million fans. At the beginning of the LIVE, over 900,000 viewers joined the stream which resulted in crashing the Weverse site. Jin had to join the livestream again due to the influx of viewers from 211 countries.

The livestream had over 119 million likes including the views by fans who watched the recorded version of the LIVE on Weverse, the total count stands at 6.4 million. This further cemented Jin's global presence and influence despite having been away from the spotlight for 18 months due to his military service.

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Korean Business Research Institute revealed brand reputation rankings for K-pop groups in June 2024

Here's the entire list of 30 K-pop groups ranking on the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute's data study of the idol group's brand reputation in June 2024:

1. BTS
2. SEVENTEEN
3. IVE
4. Aespa
5. (G)I-DLE
6. ILLIT
7. LE SSERAFIM
8. BLACKPINK
9. Triple S
10. SHINee
11. Oh My Girl
12. Red Velvet
13. Twice
14. Stray Kids
15. Girls' Generation
16. BABYMONSTER
17. BTOB
18. TWS,
19. ZEROBASEONE,
20. fromis_9
21. HICKEY
22. The Boyz
23. Kiss of Life
24. EXO
25. ATEEZ
26. ENHYPEN
27. Wanna One
28. WJSN
29. Mamamoo
30. INFINITE

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In other news, BTS members will reconvene in 2025 to resume group activities. The next band member to be discharged from the military is Jung Ho-seok aka J-Hope in October 2024.